New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Union government has strengthened monitoring and review mechanisms to ensure optimal utilisation of funds earmarked for welfare and development of Scheduled Castes under the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC), Minister of State (MoS) for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said on Sunday.
He told the Rajya Sabha, in a recent reply to a query, that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment oversees the utilisation of DAPSC funds by the obligated 38 Ministries/Departments through periodic reviews undertaken to ensure optimal utilisation.
The review meetings are held under the chairpersonship of the Minister and Secretary of Social Justice and Empowerment, he said.
In the recent past, review meetings under DAPSC were held under the chairpersonship of Minister of State B.L. Verma on April 29, 2025, and at the level of Social Justice and Empowerment Secretary, Sudhansh Pant, on August 25, 2025, and April 16, 2026, Athawale added.
From time to time, through communications, DAPSC-obligated Ministries/Departments are asked to expedite expenditure and ensure optimal utilisation of funds earmarked under DAPSC.
In adherence to the directions issued by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, all 38 Ministries/Departments implementing DAPSC have nominated a nodal officer for financial and physical monitoring of DAPSC funds in their respective Ministries/Departments, Athawale said.
The Union government continues to strengthen monitoring and review mechanisms to ensure optimal utilisation of funds earmarked under DAPSC for the welfare and development of Scheduled Castes, he added.
Athawale said the data on Budget Estimates (BE), Revised Estimates (RE) and actual expenditure under DAPSC across Ministries/Departments since 2020-21 showed that actual expenditure remained below the Revised Estimates during each of the years from 2020-21 to 2025-26.
The utilisation of Revised Estimates was 81.61 per cent in 2020-21, 91.22 per cent in 2021-22, 91.90 per cent in 2022-23, 93.83 per cent in 2023-24, 92.57 per cent in 2024-25 and 85.65 per cent in 2025-26, the MoS added.
He said that the funds are earmarked only for the welfare of Scheduled Castes.
However, due to the general nature of schemes in some Ministries/Departments, the funds are not utilised fully in certain cases.
–IANS
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